Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has walked back on controversial remarks he made about work-from-home policies during a talk at Stanford University.
In an email to The Wall Street Journal, Schmidt said: “I misspoke about Google and their work hours.” The former CEO added: “I regret my error.”
Schmidt previously indicated Google's focus on work-life balance (including flexible working options), rather than in-office productivity, had caused it to fall behind in the competitive race of artificial intelligence.
Google’s ex-CEO slams WFH
At the Stanford discussion, Schmidt said: “Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning.” He added that startups are successful due to their intense work culture, suggesting that Google has become complacent.
Acknowledging that he misspoke about Google’s stance on work-life balance, Schmidt has now reportedly requested that the video be removed.
However, regardless of Schmidt’s framing of the discussion, his thoughts echo those of many leaders globally. Tech firms in particular have been vocal about the impacts of remote and hybrid working on productivity, with many now implementing standard three-day office-working mandates.
Alphabet Workers Union, which represents around 1,000 workers from Google across the US and Canada, posted to X in response to the headlines that flexible work does not negatively impact productivity, adding that “understaffing, shifting priorities, constant layoffs, stagnant wages and lack of follow-through from management on projects” are to blame.
Google has already made eight separate layoff announcements since the beginning of this year (via layoffs.fyi) after sending 12,000 workers packing at the beginning of last year.
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